Parallax Press is a nonprofit publisher, founded and inspired by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. We publish books on mindfulness in daily life and are committed to making these teachings accessible to everyone and preserving them for future generations. We do this work to alleviate suffering and contribute to a more just and joyful world.

Ten Breaths to Happiness

Touching Life in its Fullness

There are people who say that mindfulness is just one thing—breathing in and breathing out. They are right. With mindful breathing, we’re more present for ourselves and for the world and we can live deeply every moment of our daily life.” —Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, from the Foreword

Glen Schneider has developed a series of simple practices to help us cultivate happiness and fulfillment in the course of our daily lives. Happiness is far more than a positive feeling that comes and goes. It is wired into the physiology of our brains, a skill we can all develop through cultivating mindfulness and concentration. Ten Breaths to Happiness shares a series of simple practices and guided meditations that help rewire your neural pathways to experience deeper fulfillment and peace.

“While the Ten Breaths Practice is ancient, Schneider connects it to neuroscience with explanations that flow easily enough for beginners… This fifty-page book is like a poem in the sense that every word resonates, nothing is out of place, and the images carry us beyond our usual thinking.”
—Mindfulness Bell

From the Introduction
Ten Breaths to Happiness

The Ten Breath Practice is a simple, concrete way to nourish our seeds of happiness and joy. It involves allowing ourselves to be “caught” by something wonderful during the course of our day: a sight, a sound, a feeling. When this happens, we stop and offer it our full presence. Something shows up for us, so we show up for it. You can practice it anywhere, anytime. It can change you and your relationship with the Universe.

This practice is based in recent neuroscience, where three important discoveries have been made about nourishing happiness and joy:

1. Our brain is organized in clusters of neurons known as “neural pathways.” Mental traffic tends to follow existing, readily available routes, regardless of whether the neural pathway is appropriate, accurate, or actually beneficial. The more we use a route, the more available it becomes. “What fires together, wires together.”

2. The human organism is preferentially wired, overwhelmingly, to recognize dangers and threats. Survival is the priority. Happiness and joy are optional behaviors.

3. Neuroscientists have estimated that it takes about thirty seconds to firmly root a new neural pathway. So with awareness and practice, we can develop our beneficial pathways. New neural networks become more firmly rooted with the length of time something is held in awareness and with the intensity of the emotional stimulation. As new connections are created and used repeatedly, footpaths eventually become freeways. With practice we can re-wire our brains so that patterns of happiness become habitual, authentic, and deeply nourishing.

As Zen meditators, we are used to following our breath, so we can use ten breaths as the measure of time needed to set a new pathway. Thus, we simply present ourselves to the flower, without judgment, commentary, or analysis. We behold, through awareness of our breathing – bringing mind and body together – and we count each breath cycle: “one, two, three” … all the way to ten. While breathing, please bring into awareness your emotions and body sensations. Let the experience be as intense as possible. See if you can open up every cell of your body to the experience.

Distractions or doubts may arise. “I’ve got other things to do,” or “This isn’t working, this is boring,” or “This really isn’t such a great flower after all.” You might feel foolish or you might break out in tears. The important thing is to find a way to ten, to really set and anchor the new neural pathway. And when you come to ten, why not twelve, or twenty? The sky’s the limit.

This Ten Breath Practice engages the teacher within. What catches your attention is entirely, uniquely up to you. How you behold this experience and allow it to penetrate you, that is totally up you. Out of your own sustained awareness, you will create and strengthen new neural pathways. Your mind will grow, and the next time you encounter a flower, your experience of it will be easier, more familiar, and deeper. Good luck!!